The cold season is drawing tourists to national parks and officials have begun fretting about garbage left behind by visitors.
Thanya Nethithammakul, chief of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, said on Thursday that the department is undertaking a campaign to raise awareness among visitors to keep all parks clean.
The campaign included signs posted at national parks and the same messages in social media.
Several parks have already found the places littered with rubbish after tourists' visits.
The latest case was Ramkhamhaeng National Park, better known as Khao Luang, in Sukhothai, where two tonnes of garbage was left on the mountain and it took about one month for officials to clean up the place.
Some parks, including Ramkhamhaeng, Khao Yai in Nakhon Ratchasima and Suthep-Pui in Chiang Mai, have introduced different measures with the same goal to end the problem.
Ramkhamhaeng requires each visitor to pay a refundable 200-baht garbage collection fee to ensure they bring their rubbish out. Suthep-Pui gives a souvenir to visitors returning with garbage, while famous Phu Kradung in Loei also requires a deposit for a trash bin and a visitor is given a certificate after coming down from the mountain with rubbish inside.
The park chief admitted that all parks do not have enough staff to take care of the rubbish problem. The most effective measure rests with all visitors to bear in mind that they have to keep the areas clean.
At Khao Kho National Park in Phetchabun, pictures of the viewpoint littered with trash have recently been shared in social media, prompting the Tambon Khao Kho Administration Organisation to mobilise staff members and volunteers on a clean-up day on Monday.
The viewpoint at the park is under the responsibility of the tambon administration organisation (TAO) and TAO chief Chanram Sridet said on Wednesday that some tourists failed to put garbage in rubbish bins provided in the area.
